PONCHIELLI, Amilcare (1834-1886) - Sinfonia in Sib, Op.153

Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886) - Sinfonia in Sib, Op.153

Performers: Indiana University Wind Ensemble; Stephen Pratt

Painting: Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837) - View on the Dome, Milan

Further info: Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886) - Pezzi per Organo

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Amilcare Ponchielli

(Paderno Fasolaro [now Paderno Ponchielli], 31 August 1834 - Milan, 17 Jan 1886)

Italian composer. The son of a shopkeeper, also organist, he studied music first with his father and then with the organist of a neighbouring village. In 1843 a wealthy benefactor helped him to obtain a free place at the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Pietro Ray (theory), Arturo Angeleri (piano), Felice Frasi (composition to 1851) and Alberto Mazzucato (music history and aesthetics, and composition from 1851). By the age of ten he had already composed a symphony, although without orchestrating it. Having taken his diploma on 4 September 1854, Ponchielli settled in Cremona as a music teacher and organist at the church of S Maria with the small annual stipend of 1000 lire, but as a protégé of Ruggero Manna, who was in charge of the local Teatro della Concordia and maestro di cappella at the cathedral, he was appointed his deputy at the theatre in 1855. In 1860 he directed several operas at the Teatro Carcano in Milan and in Alessandria. In the meantime he had ventured on a full-length opera of his own, 'I promessi sposi'(1856). Its reception was enthusiastic, but the poor libretto, whose authorship remains unknown, discouraged publishers and impresarios alike from acquiring the rights. Roderico re dei Goti (1863) was taken off after a single performance owing to the indisposition of the baritone. An operatic project undertaken with Piave in 1867 (probably Vico Bentivoglio) was brought to an end by the stroke that laid the poet low until his death in 1876. Throughout the 1860s Ponchielli made his living as municipal bandmaster, first at Piacenza (from 1862), then at Cremona (from 1864), during which time he directed several operas and gave one of his ballets. In 1867 he competed for the professorship of counterpoint at the Milan Conservatory. Although he was adjudged the winner, the nomination went to Franco Faccio, due partly to the influence of Giulio Ricordi. Once more Ponchielli took part in a composite opera, La vergine di Kermo (1870), his fellow contributors including Cagnoni, Lauro Rossi and Mazzucato. Finally, in 1872 a long period of frustration came to an end with the unexpected success of 'I promessi sposi' at the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan. 

Part of the enthusiasm was due to the anti-Wagnerian reaction that was gathering strength in Italy, and part to the interest already aroused by Petrella’s opera on the same subject. Critics noted, however, a stylistic discrepancy between the old and the new pieces, while Verdi observed that both were behind their respective times. With his next opera, 'La Gioconda' (1876), Ponchielli finally hit the mark, though three years were to pass before he succeeded in hammering the score into its definitive shape. No such success attended 'Lina' (1877), a revised version of 'La Savoiarda', rightly judged impossibly old-fashioned. Over the next two years Ponchielli took up a couple of subjects – Ghislanzoni’s 'I mori di Valenza' and Carlo D’Ormeville’s 'Olga' – only to lay them aside in favour of Angelo Zanardini’s 'Il figliuol prodigo' (1880). Although recognized as his most carefully written work to date, the action was considered too slow and the subject too oratorio-like. However, Ponchielli’s fame was now firmly established, and he received countless invitations and commissions. In 1878 he deputized for the conductor Luigi Mancinelli at the Teatro Apollo, Rome. He held the chair of composition at the Milan Conservatory from May 1880. His pupils there included Puccini, and, for a short time, Mascagni. In 1882 he was appointed organist at S Maria Maggiore, Bergamo, for which he turned out a number of sacred compositions, the most important being the 'Lamentazioni di Geremia' (1885). In 1884 he was in St Petersburg, where 'La Gioconda' was given at the Mariinsky Theatre, and also 'I lituani' under the title of 'Aldona'. In his last opera, 'Marion Delorme' (1885), Ponchielli attempted to diversify his style with elements derived from French opéra comique; but the growing exhaustion of his melodic invention was becoming apparent. His death from pneumonia the following January was mourned throughout Italy, not least by Verdi, whose initial doubts as to his capability had been fully overcome by the success of 'La Gioconda'.

DE GRIGNY, Nicolas (1672-1703) - La Messe avec plain-chant (1699)

Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703) - La Messe avec plain-chant (1699)

Performers: Bernard Coudurier (orgue); Ensemble Alternatim

Painting: François Marius Granet (1775-1849) - The Choir of the Capuchin Church in Rome

Further info: De Grigny - La Messe

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Nicolas de Grigny

(Reims, bap. 8 September 1672 - Reims, 30 November 1703)

French organist and composer. He came from a family several of whom were organists and town musicians: his father and grandfather and one of his paternal uncles were all organists in Reims. From 1693 to 1695 he was organist at the abbey church of St Denis in Paris, where his brother André was sub-prior; he was apparently a pupil of Lebègue at this period. In 1695 he married a Parisian merchant’s daughter. The record of the birth of the first of his seven children shows that by 1696 he was back in Reims, and within a year he was organist at the cathedral, although the exact date of his appointment is unknown. He held this position until his death, the year before which he agreed to give his services as organist to the parish church of St Symphorien in Reims. Grigny’s volume consists mainly of nine groups of pieces – the four sections of the Ordinary of the Mass and five hymns; there are also four single numbers. Each of the nine groups begins with a plainsong movement in which the chant appears in long notes in either the bass or the tenor. The mass draws upon the plainsong Mass IV of the Vatican edition familiar from the organ masses of Nivers, Lebègue and Couperin. Accompanying voices are set in animated harmony, at times engaging in free imitation. Each cantus firmus movement is followed by a fugue based upon one or more motifs of the plainsong. The remaining movements are in the familiar forms of Grigny’s predecessors – duos, trios, récits, various other embellished solos and dialogues. These movements rarely echo the plainsong, though the récit for the Pange lingua is a striking exception in which the entire hymn melody is paraphrased with embellishment. Although Grigny introduced no new forms he enriched the traditional ones in various ways. A number of his fugues are in five parts, requiring two manuals and pedals, and so are some of the dialogues and plainsong versets. Several of the récits call for a pair of solo voices rather than for a single solo against the accompaniment. Fugal treatment appears in movements other than fugues, nor is dialogue treatment – the alternation between manuals of contrasting registration – confined to dialogues. No composer of the French classical organ school demanded more of the pedals, and few exploited the contrasting colours of the organ more vividly. In other respects too Grigny’s work is more distinguished than that of his predecessors and contemporaries: in richness of texture, complexity of counterpoint, expressiveness of melodic embellishment, seriousness of purpose and intensity of feeling. He had no immediate French successors either in these aspects or in his use of liturgical material: rather is his work a summation of that of his predecessors. Bach paid it the tribute of copying it in its entirety for his own study and use about 1713. There is also a copy in the hand of J.G. Walther, probably taking that of Bach as its source.

SOLNITZ, Anton Wilhelm (c.1708-c.1752) - Sinfonia (in A) à 4, Op.3 (c.1745)

Anton Wilhelm Solnitz (c.1708-c.1752) - Sinfonia (in A) à 4, Op.3 (c.1745)

Performers: Musica ad Rhenum

Painting: Hieronymus van der Mij (1687-1761) - Portrait af Anton Wilhelm Steinitz (c.1708-1752), in a sculpted Niche, with a Violin and Musical Scores

Further info: Anton Wilhelm Solnitz (c.1708-c.1752)

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Anton Wilhelm Solnitz [Solniz, Sollnitz]

(Bohemia, c.1708 - Leiden, c.1752)

Bohemian composer, active in the Netherlands. He probably went to Holland in the mid-1730s; in 1738 one of his symphonies was performed at the centenary celebrations of the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg, and several of his works were published in Amsterdam around that time. He then moved to Leiden, where he was registered at the university in 1743. In about 1750-51 Walsh published two volumes of trio sonatas as opp.1 and 2; although they lack dedications, they may be first editions, since no Dutch editions have been traced. In 1751 Solnitz was a frequent performer of his own compositions in concerts at the Nieuw Vaux-Hall inn, The Hague. According to Lustig he died in Leiden. This must have been shortly before or in 1753, when music originating from his estate was offered for sale in newspaper announcements. Solnitz’s symphonies opp.1 and 3 are similar in structure to those of G.B. Sammartini. He was probably the first to write and publish such works in the Netherlands. The rapid changes of texture in these compositions are remarkable, foreshadowing later Sturm und Drang writing. His trio sonatas fall between the Baroque and the galant styles of the middle of the century, with predominantly triadic melodic development and simple bass parts. Most are in three binary movements, with those in the first set (c.1750) basically following a fast–slow–fast or fast–slow–minuet pattern, and those in the second (c.1751) following a moderate–fast–faster or moderate–fast–minuet pattern.

ZERAFA, Benigno (1726-1804) - Confitebor tibi Domine (1765)

Benigno Zerafa (1726-1804) - Confitebor tibi Domine (1765)

Performers: Solistes du Tölzer Knabenchor; WoIfgang Schady (conductor)

Painting: Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) - Virgin and Child with Music-Making Angels

Further info: Benigno Zerafa (1726-1804) - Nisi Dominus (1764)

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Benigno [Beninju, Beninn] Zerafa

(Rabat, 25 August 1726 - Valletta, 20 March 1804)

Maltese composer. As a boy soprano in the Mdina Cathedral cappella, he received his early instruction from its maestro, Pietro Gristi (1696-1738). On 8 July 1738, with financial help from the cathedral chapter, he became a student at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo, Naples, under Francesco Feo, Alfonso Caggi and Girolamo Abos. He returned to Malta in 1744 and on 22 August, when not yet 18 years old, was appointed maestro di cappella at the cathedral. His irascible temper was the probable cause of an incident which led to his dismissal in 1751. A suitable replacement not being found, he was reinstated on 15 April 1753 with even better conditions, and he was able to enlarge and refine the cappella. He held the post until he died, although only nominally after 1785 because of failing health. His last composition, Litaniae B. Mariae Virginis, is dated 1782. Zerafa, who had been ordained priest on 19 September 1750, was a gifted composer. 170 of his works are extant (in Mdina Cathedral), all sacred and encompassing virtually all contemporary genres as well as the stile antico. Unusually, he preferred ‘Kyrie–Gloria–Agnus Dei’ settings of the Mass. He composed several such works with multi-movement structures, either for double or for single four-part choir, with instrumental accompaniment. A sensitive and technically accomplished composer of depth and individuality (Heighes), the economy and asceticism of his stile breve create an aura of humble devotion in his music.

ISOLA, Gaetano (1754-1813) - Concerto per clavicembalo obbligato

Gaetano Isola (1754-1813) - Concerto per clavicembalo obbligato (live recording)

Performers: Davide Mingozzi (cembalo); L’Arcadia Ligustica

Engraving: Remondini collection - Gezicht op het Piazza Banchi te Genua

Further info: Gaetano Isola (1754-1813)

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Gaetano Isola

(Genoa, 1754 - Genoa, 17 July 1813)

Italian composer. It is known from a letter he wrote to Padre Martini (in I-Bc) that he spent about ten years at the Palermo Conservatory studying for a diploma as maestro di cappella. Returning to Genoa in 1775 he began a career as a composer and music director. From 1777 to 1796 he was maestro di cappella at various churches and from 1789 maestro al cembalo at the Teatro S Agostino, of which he also seems to have been director at least for the last years of his life. In 1800 he was a member of the music section of the Istituto Nazionale della Liguria. Between 1785 and 1797 six operas and an oratorio by him were performed in Genoa, Turin, Florence and Lisbon to public acclaim. Two in particular were big spectacle pieces. For La conquista del vello d’oro Boggio chose a mythological subject on which to construct an opera in the French style. It incorporates a dance of the infernal spirits and some machine spectacle in the form of a fire-breathing dragon and a temple of the sun appearing in mid-air. The trio that closes Act 2 contains programmatic storm music, generously scored for percussion and wind including solo bassoon, clarinet and trumpet in addition to the usual oboe and horn. In Le danaidi, the innovatory librettist Sertor provided a formally more fluid work including many ensembles, choruses and pantomime. Two of the ensembles involve some action, and several include a chorus. Besides operas Isola wrote songs and sacred and instrumental music; his works survive only in manuscript. His sacred music includes a Credo and four-voice mass for the coronation of the doge Raffade de Ferrari, dated 25 November 1787. Isola also composed a few cantatas for the Accademia biennale delle Scuole Pie in Genoa. Of his stage works, in most cases only the librettos and a few arias survive. His pupils included the English tenor and composer John Braham.

STIAVA, Francesco Maria (1640-1702) - Magnificat à 5 voci (1694)

Francesco Maria Stiava (1640-1702) - Magnificat à 5 voci (1694)

Performers: Ensemble San Felice

Painting: Erick Van Den Weerelt (1647-1714) - Music-Making Group

Further info: Francesco Maria Stiava - Vespri di Santa Cecilia

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Francesco Maria Stiava

(Lucca, 1640 - Lucca, 1702)

Italian composer. Almost nothing is known about his life. He was born to a family of musicians, his elder brother, Domenico Stiava, was chapel master of the Cathedral of Lucca, while he lived for a long time in Messina, where he was the master of the royal chapel until 1700, when he returned to Lucca. Stiava's output was mainly sacred and was strongly influenced by the great Sicilian Baroque. His music can be related to the compositions of authors such as Bonaventura Rubino, Sigismondo d'India, Antonio Ferraro, Giovan Pietro Flaccomio and Vincenzo D'Elia.